//------------------------------//
// Homecoming 
// Story: Latex and Lace 
// by starshine_dash 
//------------------------------//

Octavia put her key into the lock of the front door of her home. It was great to finally be back. The lock clicked smoothly and the door opened easily. Looking around, she took in the view of her remodeled home. The kitchen had been expanded enough to allow for the larger freezer and bigger range. The new bar jutting out to partially separate it from the dining area had been decorated with a fruit bowl for her return. Entering, she moved into the room on the left, looking at the couches and chairs set in a semi-circle facing the fire place. Through the door in the back was the large music room, designed for acoustics, and soundproofed from the outside so she could play loudly at night without disturbing her neighbors. She placed the cello in its stand and exited, wondering where Vinyl had gone.

Trotting up the stairs to the second level, there was a room straight ahead with her cutie mark engraved on the door. Next to it sat a guest room, across the hall from another guest room. A bathroom sat next to this second guest room and a small office and study was nestled in the corner with a window that looked out over Ponyville. Vinyl had made her way into one of the guest rooms and collapsed on the bed after drawing all the curtains closed. The beds had all been made with creations from Rarity's boutique, as were all the curtains and other cloth dressings of the house. It had cost her quite a few bits, but it was worth it to turn it from the old family house of bad memories into a new comfortable home for herself and anypony who happened to move in.

It seemed that she already had a house guest before even settling in. Entering the master bathroom off of her bedroom, the cellist stretched and removed her bow tie before undoing the bobby pins that kept her mane in place. Running the water until it was piping hot, the mare climbed into the tub and stretched out. Adding a small dash of scented salts, she relaxed in the steamy room. Reaching for the cloth that was in the place she expected, the earth pony began to wash her coat clean of the scum of sitting on a train and suffering Canterlot nobility. It had been far too long since Octavia had allowed herself the luxury of a bath. An idle thought wondered if she could convince her unicorn charge to join her for a spa visit in the near future.

Thinking about the mare sleeping in the other bedroom, Octavia blushed and sunk a little lower in the tub. Vinyl was a pony with a lot of world experience, so, surely her little secret would not cause a freak out. She was still ashamed of it, however, and the thought of revealing it to someone she had become so infatuated with caused her heart rate to spike. It was an unpleasant feeling. Her parents hadn't reacted very well when she had decided to ignore that particular part of her anatomy. The rest of her body was that of a mare, why not live as one? The feminine sway to her hips, the curve of her flank, even her face and mane screamed mare to the world.

Living as a colt had been uncomfortable. Forced to speak in a lower register caused her voice to tire far too quickly. She was mocked entering the colt's locker room in school, and refused entry to the fillies rooms. It had taken constant political maneuvering on her part, as well as an audience with both of the Princesses in order to receive legal permission to live as she felt right. There remained the matter of that blasted appendage between her hind legs. It was well hidden much of the time, but had the most annoying tendency to pop up at the most inopportune times. One day, perhaps, Octavia would get up the nerve to ask the Princesses for a spell to change it. A hoof impacted her face as she remembered that she should have just asked while she was at the audience the first time. Perhaps Twilight would know a spell. The local librarian slash national hero slash Element of Magic would perhaps be willing to help. 

She sighed, playing cello in front of thousands of ponies was far easier than asking one pony to help with such an intimate issue. Personal issues aside, she was glad Vinyl had agreed to stay with her. It would be a boon having the unicorn around to help with keeping the house in order and perhaps they could work on something for the Summer Sun Celebration that was coming soon. The main celebration would be in Trottingham this year, but Ponyville always held a festival in town. Cello and ... Did Vinyl's music even have a genre? It was definitely electronic, but her knowledge of the hundreds of subgenres was minimal. To her, it was all techno.

Finally extracting herself from the water, feeling physically clean for the first time in months, Octavia dried herself and returned to her bedroom to redo her hair and retrieve a clean bow tie. The moving crew was due in about three hours, so perhaps a trip to the market before her house guest woke up would be in order. Rarity had provided all the interior decorating, but surely nopony had gone grocery shopping. Retrieving her pouch of bits, the cellist penned a quick note to Vinyl and rested it on the nightstand next to the sleeping unicorn. Heading out the door, the earth pony took in the view of the town in front of her, finally home.